In a flash of inspiration, you decide you want a chartreuse bedroom, or maybe a Moroccan theme in the dining room. Those are bold design statements. Perhaps you should test-drive or ease into a color or design concept before committing. But how?
Take baby steps. In the bedroom, audition a daring color by starting with sheets and living with them for a while. In the living room, trying out slipcovers before replacing or reupholstering furniture is a good way to test whether a color or pattern has staying power.
In the bathroom, "The shower curtain is the best way to add a color or pattern for the most impact without a long-term commitment," says Jacksonville, N.C.-based interior design consultant Christa Delgado.
You can also ease in a bold color scheme by starting with towels.
Elsewhere, "Accent pillows are great because you're not doing a whole sofa or room. You just need a yard or two of fabric" to add a splash of color or subtly introduce at a theme, says Longview, Texas-based design consultant Karen Davenport.
New lampshades and throws can serve the same purpose.
You may decide that one brazen splash of color is sufficient. Or you may decide to keep going.
Davenport recommends test-driving colors and room designs on 20-by-30-inch foam-core boards. Buy a sample-size container of paint and apply it to the board as you would a wall. Then, "Carry the board around and hold it behind the lamp, behind your picture frames, behind the couch, next to the drapery fabric - hold it up to everything to make sure everything pops nicely against the color," she advises.
Make sure the color works for you when viewed from different angles and near different light sources. "Check it out during the daylight hours as well as at night," advises Jackie Jordan, director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams.
After selecting a color, start stapling to the board. Apply fabric swatches and something representative of your wood trim. "You can see everything at a glance, almost like a miniature room," Davenport says. "So if you feel like something's not working, just take it off and replace it with something else" until the full picture pleases you.
You can also take the board into home décor stores. "It's not too large to carry around, and it's certainly not too heavy," she says.
For design styles, a noncommittal starting point is adhesive silhouette wall graphics that stand in for picture frames, mantels, headboards and light fixtures, Davenport says.
Delgado - a military wife who has moved frequently and knows how to design with minimal cost or commitment - recently decorated her 10-year-old daughter's room in a Moroccan style, with turquoise predominating.
She bought brightly colored saris, which when not worn are simply large squares of fabric hemmed on all sides. Starting at the headboard, she ran the fabric up the wall and fastened it with push pins where the wall meets the ceiling. Then, with rows of push pins, she draped the sari three times from the ceiling over the bed to form a canopy. "The sari fabric is so light it holds easily," she says.
If a canopy seems to precious or juvenile, try finding a bright bolt of fabric to tuck under your mattress and use as a bed skirt.
Using fabric, "Even if you're a renter you can keep your walls white and add some color and splash without a commitment," Delgado says.
Another way to accomplish that is with scrapbooking papers. You can find decorative papers in every conceivable theme and design. Delgado recommends framing them for wall art as well as a test run to find out whether a style grows on you, or simply grows old.
